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Actually, both Paul and Kellhus are based on the “Messiah” archetype. Every culture, all the way back to the beginnings of mankind, has this concept of the one who is “Chosen” and has special powers to lead his people to salvation. I don’t think Kellhus was actually “based on” Paul–I think both characters were based on people like Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and the like. In the case of Bakker, though, he’s winking at the reader because he’s showing us the real man behind the Messiah Myth. Over the course of the series we see how the world comes to regard Kellhus as an all-powerful messiah, but WE know that Kellhus is simply manipulating everyone he encounters to create this illusion. And he’s doing it (partially) to save mankind from a Second Apocalypse.

By the time THE JUDGING EYE takes place (20 years after PRINCE OF NOTHING), the people actually consider Kellhus a god–but again we faithful readers know that Kellus is simply a Dunyain monk who has learned sorcery from Drusas Achamian. He is a master manipulator of people and has fostered his own false godhood on earth because he sees it as the best way to save it.

How many “messiahs” in our past have done the same? Depends on your religious beliefs. If everyone believes you’re an all-powerful messiah, does that MAKE you one? That is one of the themes of the series. It raises some essential questions about humanity and the myths we come to believe (or the lies, depending on your viewpoint).